This is a good idea. I think any kind of focussing on an object will help us notice the differences between real and dream objects. In RL we don’t look at detail enough.
I find that very difficult too. You don’t have to visualise yourself for this method though. Just visualise things in front of your eyes, how you would see them in RL.
I too had to deal with this, the best tip I can give to you is that the 6 hours of sleep written in every guide should work for regular people, people like us (insomniac) should cut this to 3-4 hours and then immidiatly do the methods.
Unfortunatly this did not work for me. However I did go into what I can only describe as an advanced stage of SP. By advanced I mean I could not feel my bed. It was a very strange feeling . I will try it again tonight.